10 Things I like About you
by Rita Arabella Black
Summary: For the I hate that I love you challenge. Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks are forced to come up with a list of things they like about each other.


**A/N: This is for the "I hate that I love you challenge". Pairs Charlie/Tonks. Prompts are: He hates that she's a magnet for all kinds of trouble; She hates that he's sometimes very arrogant. Don't know if I stayed true to the spirit, though. –Rita**

10 Things I Like About You

They were caught throwing hexes at each other in the dining hall. Professor McGonagall was less than impressed when Charlie Weasley whined that she started it. Nymphadora Tonks smiled smugly when the good Professor told Charlie to act like the young man he was and not a cry baby. Charlie looked at Nymphadora and stuck his tongue out at her.

They got dragged off together by their ears to Professor McGonagall's office to write lines. She determined quickly that writing the same lines over again wouldn't do for the wild spirited Tonks and Weasley. So, she set a different kind of punishment; they were to write a list to the other entitled, 10 Things I Like About You.

Both of them groaned as they pulled their quills, ink pots, and parchment out of their book bags. Charlie pushed his chair back and glared at Tonks and then at this parchment. Tonks was sucking on the end of the quill, thinking about what she was going to write. Both of them looked up, desperately trying to find something. They looked at each other critically, and then inspiration struck them at the same time. Then Tonks hunched over the parchment, covering her writing with her other hand so no one could see it, and began writing furiously.

Charlie made several false starts before he got down to writing. He didn't write neatly, there were ink smudges all over his hands, the paper and his nose. Tonks looked over at him and began snickering. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and scratched out part of her list.

"I like how you are so arrogant, but always end up on your backside," Tonks wrote. "You are, you know, the most arrogant and conceited show off in Hogwarts and I love when you get thrown off your broom during Quidditch and you end up on your arse."

"I like that you can't stand still without some something going wrong with you. It's like you're a magnet for disaster. I'm amazed you've lived this long. If I really liked you, _which I don't_, I'd be worried that you'd break your neck."

"I like how you turn all red when girls talk to you, and how you stammer and get all nervous when Angelina looks at you. You're funny looking," Tonks giggled as she wrote the words. Charlie looked up at her and giving her a mean look, he turned back to his parchment.

"I like how you trip over your own feet and if there's a something in the way to trip over, you'll find a way to trip over it," Charlie wrote. He was giggling to himself and Tonks gave him a smug look.

"I like how your name sounds like an ugly varmint that describes your personality to a T."

"I like how your name sounds like some kind of diseased sex pervert."

"I like that you're not in Hufflepuff."

"I like that you're not in Gryffindor."

Tonks was beginning to run out of things to say. She looked at Charlie, who was concentrating hard on the parchment. A hint of a smile crossed her face.

She put her quill to paper and wrote, "I like how you caught the Golden Snitch in Saturday's game against Ravenclaw."

Charlie sat back in the wood chair and thought for a moment. He too was running out of nasty things to say. Suddenly he let out a bubble of a laugh, stuck his quill into the ink pot, tapped it then wrote, "I like how you clobbered Jeremiah Crabbe in the balls when he made fun of you."

"I like how unicorns come to you when you call them."

"I like how you clobbered Jeremiah Crabbe in the balls when he tried to hurt that first year."

"I like how you made Abbey Prewett laugh after Crabbe tried to hurt her."

"I like how you can make faces that make people laugh."

"I like the color of your hair."

"I like that your hair turns pink."

"I liked how you blushed when I gave you the Valentine."

"I liked when you gave me the Valentine."

"I liked how you kissed me," they wrote together.

They rolled up the parchment carefully, tied each with a piece of cord and gave it to Professor who was wearing a rather smug smile herself. Neither looked at the other as they waited for McGonagall to say something.

She looked at the parchments and said, "Do you want to read what the other wrote?"

Charlie and Tonks looked at each other and shook their heads. "Very well, then," said Professor McGonagall. "Don't let me see you two fighting again or you'll face suspension."

"No Professor," Charlie said, "we've learnt our lesson. No more fighting for us." He grinned his paralyzingly charming smile.

"That's right, Professor," Tonks repeated glowing happily.

Professor McGonagall turned around to place the parchments on her desk, when Tonks shot out her fist and punch Charlie hard in the arm. He rubbed his arm, then reached out and tugged on her hair. When the Professor turned around again, both were smiling angelically.

"Yes, well. Remember my warning," she said, eyeing them suspiciously.

They nodded together and turned and ran out of the room. McGonagall smiled to herself as she watched them leave. "There's a pair," she said to herself.


End file.
